Cringer redirects here. For Cringer the band see Cringer (band)

Cringer (band)

Cringer was a band from Hawaii that included Lance Hahn , among others. Named after a talking cat from the cartoon He-Man, it existed from Summer 1985 to Fall 1991.Hahn died in October 2007.-Albums:*Greatest Hits, Vol...

.

Battle-Cat is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 in the Masters of the Universe

Masters of the Universe

Masters of the Universe is a media franchise created by Mattel....

 franchise. He is a large green tiger, with yellow stripes who serves as He-Man

He-Man

He-Man is a fictional heroic character featured in the Masters of the Universe media franchise. In most variations, he is the alter ego of Prince Adam...

's fighting mount.

Battle Cat (1983-1985)

Battle Cat's alter ego is Cringer, the cowardly, lazy, over-eating feline

Felidae

Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the strictest carnivores of the thirteen terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the...

 companion of Prince Adam. He tends to spend most of his time as Cringer sleeping, eating, and avoiding responsibility, as well as hiding at the slightest sign of trouble or danger. He can talk, although no reason is ever really given for this ability. He has the appearance of a green, orange-striped tiger; that he is some kind of tiger is beyond question. In the episode "Teela's Quest", Queen Marlena

Queen Marlena

Queen Marlena is a fictional character from the Masters of the Universe franchise. She first appears in the toys' minicomics as a typical medieval-style queen. Later, the Filmation cartoon series states that she is actually a space pilot from Earth who had crash-landed on Eternia some years before...

 says to Adam in regards to the planet Earth, "There are no talking green tigers on Earth." It is not known if her referring to Cringer as a tiger means he is called a tiger on Eternia

Eternia

Eternia is the name of the fictional planet that serves as a setting for the Masters of the Universe toy collection and animated series.-Origins:...

, or if she is simply using it as a comparison, but in the episode "A Beastly Sideshow" Evil-Lyn

Evil-Lyn

Evil-Lyn is a fictional character in the popular Masters of the Universe toy line and the accompanying cartoon series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe....

 also refers to Cringer as a tiger, and in the episode "House of Shokoti", a boy is surprised that he is "a talking tiger", so presumably, Cringer would be seen as a tiger on Eternia. However, his species is never given an explicit name and it is unclear how many others like him there are. When Prince Adam transforms into He-Man

He-Man

He-Man is a fictional heroic character featured in the Masters of the Universe media franchise. In most variations, he is the alter ego of Prince Adam...

, he holds his sword out and fires an energy beam at Cringer, transforming him into Battle Cat. When he becomes Battle Cat, he grows to about twice his size, and is outfitted in red armor that covers his head, and back, with a saddle mounted on it for riding. As Battle Cat, he is fearless, and powerful. His voice changes significantly, and he talks with a growl, as opposed to his whimpering voice that is heard when he is Cringer. Cringer generally dislikes becoming Battle Cat, but he goes along with it anyway. He largely serves as a mount for He-Man, but he is known for mixing it up with the villains as well. Oddly enough, Battle Cat is given a love interest; in the episode "The Cat And The Spider" Kittrina, a warrior of the cat-people took a shine to him from the start.

The story of Cringer/Battle Cat's past is covered in the episode "Battle Cat". The episode recounts that Adam, while on a few days exploring the jungle as a boy, found a kitten being attacked by a vicious sabrecat. After scaring the sabrecat away, Adam took the kitten back to the palace where it was tended to by Man-At-Arms

Man-At-Arms

Man-At-Arms is the primary title of Duncan, a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise. The figure's tag-line is "Heroic Master of Weapons".-He-Man and the Masters of the Universe :...

. After it became well, Adam adopted the kitten as his pet. However the kitten was scared very easily, and Adam and the kitten were teased by Teela

Teela

Teela "Warrior Goddess!" is a fictional character from the Masters of the Universe franchise. She is the Captain of the Royal Guard at the palace of Eternos and thus responsible for training and protecting Prince Adam of Eternia. While Adam is He-Man, Teela often assists him in his battles, but...

 and the other children, with the kitten being called a cringer. Although Adam defended his pet, the name stuck. The Sorceress

Sorceress of Castle Grayskull

The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull, also known as The Goddess and Teela Na, is a fictional character from the Masters of the Universe franchise.-Original MOTU mini-comics:...

 appeared and told Adam that Cringer might bring him embarrassment now, but in the future he would be useful.
Years passed, and after Adam was given the ability to become He-Man he usually hid from Cringer. However, when an archeological dig was attacked by a recently released monster, Adam transformed into He-Man without knowing Cringer was watching. After spotting him, He-Man tried to reassure his pet that he was really Adam, but after pointing the Sword of Power towards Cringer it let out the usual energy beam, transforming Cringer into Battle Cat for the first time. He-Man was shocked to see the change in the usually timid cat, but remembered the Sorceress' words from when he was a child and he received another message, telling him Battle Cat was now his partner. Using Battle Cat, he was able to confine the beast and save the endangered team.

Battle Cat (2002)

Cringer is somewhat of a pet to Adam. Although it seems clear he can understand what is said to him, he cannot speak and sounds like a typical house cat. He is cowardly, although this does not come up as much as in the original series, but more than once he has shown some bravery in order to help Adam. As Battle Cat, he is most often seen merely transporting He-Man and roaring loudly. However, while in the first season he only has a few moments where he fights (he goes one-on-one with Panthor, helps against Evilseed's vines, fights and defeats giant mutated rats, takes out Clawful

Clawful

Clawful is a fictional character in the popular Masters of the Universe toy line and the accompanying cartoon series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe....

 and fights a powered up Tri-Klops), in season 2 the writers gave him a more active role; he often fights against the Snake Men (he nearly kills Kobra Khan) and Skeletor's forces. Since he never speaks, there seems to be an effort to portray his relationship with Adam/He-Man as more than master/pet, most often through either Battle Cat or Cringer being badly injured and He-Man entering a rage, or by He-Man explaining things to him. He is twice seen without his battle helmet, revealing a rather fiercer, sabertoothed version of Cringer's face beneath. In the episode 'The Power of Grayskull' King Greyskull was shown to have his own mount, albeit more lion-like and with a mane who stayed by his side until his death.